Local

Republican Mick Mulvaney was well on his way to winning his fourth U.S. House term Tuesday, leading Democrat Fran Person by a 20-point margin for the 5th District congressional seat.
With final results in from six of the district’s 11 counties and partial results in others, Mulvaney had received 152,052 votes, or 59 percent, to Person’s 99,427 votes, or 39 percent. American Party candidate Rudy Barnes Jr. trailed with 5,080 votes, or 2 percent.

Local businesswoman Linda Blackmon will return to Lancaster City Council in January after defeating incumbent Jackie Harris 280 to 235 for the nonpartisan District 3 seat.
It’s a 180-degree turn for the outspoken Blackmon, who lost the seat to Harris in 2012 by 62 votes. Blackmon also served on city council from 2002-06 (District 2) and 2008-12 (District 3).
Blackmon, the owner of Blackmon-Brace Realty, Blackmon-Brace Bonding and head of the Michael Blackmon Foundation said she was speechless about the outcome.

Republican Brandon Newton took a big win Tuesday night in the S.C. House District 45 race.
As of press time, Newton had 11,084 votes to 6,210 for Democrat Tyler Mitchell. Due to a defective machine and more than 1,000 paper absentee ballots, all results were not in at press time.
“I am just very humble and honored that the people of District 45 have chosen me to represent them in Columbia,” Newton said. “I look forward to working for my district in Columbia.”

U.S. Sen. Tim Scott appeared to have easily won his first full term Tuesday, despite facing three challengers representing six parties.
With 30 of 46 counties reporting and many of the absentee ballots still not counted at 11 p.m. Tuesday, Scott held an almost 2 to 1 lead over his nearest opponent, Democrat Thomas Dixon.
Scott had 59 percent of the vote (759,029 votes) to Dixon’s 35 percent (452,654 votes).

By a huge margin, Lancaster County voters said yes to retail beer and wine sales on Sunday.
With 34 of 35 precincts in, the yes vote was 16,091, or 64 percent, and the no vote was 9,058, or 36 percent.
Don Podrebarac, owner of Southern Spirits in Indian Land, led the petition drive for Sunday alcohol sales in retail outlets such as grocery and convenience stores. The pro-Sunday sales forces included the Lancaster County Chamber of Commerce, which argued that it would help Lancaster keep business and taxes from flowing to neighboring counties.

Republican incumbent Richie Yow of S.C. House District 53 won a landslide victory Tuesday.
The Cheraw native won his second term in the House, garnering 66.16 percent of the vote (9,416 votes) to Democratic opponent Victor Li’s 33.83 percent (4,816 votes).
Yow received 6,564 votes to Li’s 4,419 in the 19 Chesterfield County precincts covered by District 53, according to scvotes.org. In Lancaster County, Yow received 743 votes to Li’s 197.

The Lancaster County Sheriff’s Office received a state grant for $84,170 this week, enabling it to hire a second victim’s advocate, this one aimed at domestic-violence cases.
“Domestic violence cases are time-consuming and they deserve all the attention we can give them,” said Donna Phillips, the sheriff’s only victim’s advocate.
“Stretched like I am now, it’s hard to give the domestic-violence victims the attention they need.”

Lancaster and Kershaw have asked residents for voluntary water conservation after S.C. officials raised the drought status across the state this week.
The S.C. Drought Response Committee moved Lancaster and four other counties into the lowest stage, incipient drought. The other counties were Kershaw, Richland, Lexington and Barnwell.
That change prompted the city of Lancaster, the town of Kershaw and the Lancaster County Water and Sewer District to ask customers to cut back on water use.

Gonzie Mackey gave away 78 refurbished bikes to kids around Lancaster last Christmas. This year, there will be none.
Nearly 30 bicycles have been swiped from Gonzie Mackey’s Assembly Shop on Great Falls Highway this year.
The two-term Lancaster City Council member and retired firefighter says the thieves have taken more than just the bikes. They have hijacked his love of Christmas.
“I just don’t feel right in even trying to do it,” Mackey said. “At times, I don’t even feel comfortable walking into the shop.”

Lancaster County has offered Sun City Carolina Lakes’ developer a way to resolve the decade-long dispute over the county taking on financial responsibility for the roads in the massive Indian Land community.
Lancaster County Attorney John Weaver, at the instruction of county council, sent a letter to Cisco Garcia, vice president of Atlanta-based Pulte Group, detailing the county’s proposal. The company has until noon Nov. 15 to accept the offer and put the issue to rest.